Is it a dire reflection on the quality of senior English goalkeepers or a testimony to Jack Butland's extraordinary potential? The 19-year-old's shock summons to Euro 2012 has divided opinion but the answer, most probably, is a bit of both.

A product of Birmingham City's academy, the 6ft 4in Bristolian spent most of the past season at League Two Cheltenham during the course of two loan spells. For an outfield player with no senior appearances for his parent Championship club and a total of only 24 in the bottom division, promotion to Roy Hodgson's England squad would be unthinkable. Goalkeepers, though, have always been a bit different – and Premier League first teams currently boast a mere handful of English-born ones.

Very much on the Football Association's fast-track after representing England at most youth levels, including Under-21 – at which he has six caps – Butland was on standby as cover for Joe Hart, Rob Green and John Ruddy. The latter's broken finger, which has put him out of Euro 2012 having been a surprise call-up in the first place, also represents a blow to Stuart Pearce, who had pencilled Butland into his GB Olympic squad.

Butland, rare in that his rapid physical development was matched by unusual emotional maturity, seems unlikely to be ruffled by rubbing shoulders with Steven Gerrard, John Terry, Wayne Rooney and company. Any anxiety should be assuaged by the presence of Dave Watson, Birmingham's goalkeeping coach, who Hodgson has hired to work alongside Ray Clemence in the tournament.

"Jack has everything needed to play at the top level," said the Cheltenham defender Steve Elliott, who believes Butland played a big part in his team's progression to the League Two play-off final, in which they meet Crewe at Wembley on Sunday. "Jack's got his head screwed on. He knows what he wants and what he has to do to get there."

Butland's ability to hit the ground running – he kept seven clean sheets during his first 12 appearances last autumn – have presumably persuaded Hodgson to select him ahead of more experienced candidates, most notably Bursaspor's Scott Carson and Newcastle United's Fraser Forster. The 24-year-old Forster kept 26 clean sheets in 47 appearances while on loan at Celtic last season and the elevation of Birmingham's third-choice keeper ahead of him has prompted incomprehension in Glasgow and on Tyneside.

The teenager, who following a string of stellar Under-18 and reserve performances was voted Birmingham's young player of the year for 2009-10, has also benefited from training alongside four international goalkeepers during his time at St Andrew's. Hart, who had a loan spell at the club, has served as a mentor, as have the former England keeper Ben Foster, Northern Ireland's Maik Taylor and the Republic of Ireland's Colin Doyle.

"Remember the name Jack Butland people. Never seen such a frighteningly good young talent in my career," tweeted Foster on Friday.

A broken hand that required surgery in the autumn of 2010 proved a mere interruption to progress accelerated by his international hot-housing. Earlier that year he played in the England Under-17s' potentially watershed European Championship victory against Spain, while the summer of 2011 saw Butland excelling during the Under-20 World Cup in Colombia. Although Brian Eastick's side were knocked out by Nigeria in the second round, his four appearances featured the concession of only one goal.

Equally importantly, this early experience of tournament football, and knowledge of how to cope with its rhythms, may prove to be invaluable next month.

Players do not need to be "poor travellers" to find life as a third-choice goalkeeper unlikely to see first-team action disillusioning, but Butland knows the chance to learn from Hart, Green and Hodgson far outweighs any downsides.

Chris Hughton feels he is equipped to cope with being hurled into the deep end, too. "It'll be great for his experience and development; I don't think he'll be fazed by it," says Birmingham's manager. "Jack's a mature lad, you can't get where he is at 19 without that maturity. England is a massive step up but the experience will be invaluable."

Ironically, Hughton took time to be convinced by Butland in the first place. "Funnily enough, I initially didn't think too much of him," he said. "But then he went to Colombia with England Under-20s and really shone."

Such sentiments are fully reciprocated by a team sad to see Butland recalled by Hughton last month. "We got the goods with Jack," says Steve Book, Cheltenham's goalkeeping coach. "Jack has everything he needs to be a top-class goalkeeper. England noticed him early and had him playing for the Under-21s as an 18-year-old. He was also lined up for the Olympics this summer – he's got it all.

"Importantly, when Jack made mistakes for Cheltenham, he recovered from them impressively. That's a big tick in the box. Dave Watson tells me Birmingham would now trust him in their first-team."

Watson may never get the chance to prove to be as good as his word: Mark Hughes is reportedly preparing a £6m bid to take the young man to QPR.